Supporting element for staple region

ABSTRACT

A supporting element for a staple region suitable for application by an automatic stapling device employed during surgery. The supporting element comprises a fabric-like object having a tube-like shape.

This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 08/456,574 filed Jun. 1,1995, abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 08/434,989filed May 4, 1995, abandoned.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a provision of a supporting element forstaple region. The element is suitable for application to an automaticstapling device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A stapler-type automatic stapling device in which a number of staplesare laid has been frequently employed in surgeries such as ablation oranastomosis of lumina. When the stapling device is applied to surgery inlung, etc., an air-leakage problem at staple region may arise. Inaddition, when applied to soft tissues, problems of damage or rupture oftissues may arise.

It is an object of the invention to provide a novel supporting elementfor staple region suitable for application to an automatic staplingdevice. The supporting element for staple region is improved in ease offitting and register, in prevention of misregister after fitting and inease of cutting operation with cutter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagonal view showing a supporting element for staple regionof the invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the supporting element for staple regionof FIG. 1 fitted on an automatic stapling device.

FIG. 3 is an A--A sectional view in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a diagonal view showing a supporting element for staple regionof FIG. 1 when applied to a tissue in the body and operated.

FIG. 5 demonstrates a supporting element for staple region made ofbioabsorbable polymer as a whole.

FIG. 6 demonstrates a supporting element for staple region made ofbioabsorbable polymer only at a peripheral region fixed by staples.

FIG. 7 demonstrates another embodiment of supporting element for stapleregion made of bioabsorbable polymer as a whole, wherein plain stitchwith sewing yarn is diagonally placed in one end section to narrow anopening of the supporting element at the end.

FIG. 8 is a diagonal view showing another embodiment of supportingelement for staple region of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagonal view showing another embodiment of supportingelement for staple region of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of supportingelement for staple region of the invention with protective cap.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a supporting element for staple regioncomprising a fabric-like object having a tube-like shape.

In addition, the present invention provides a tube-like supportingelement for staple region, wherein said supporting element at one endhas a narrowed opening formed by stitching up with sewing yarn.

In addition, the present invention provides a tube-like supportingelement for staple region comprising a fabric-like object made ofbiodegradable and bioabsorbable material integrated with stretchabletextile at both ends (hereinafter referred to as "invention I").

Further, the present invention provides a tube-like supporting elementfor staple region comprising a fabric-like object made of biodegradableand bioabsorbable material (hereinafter referred to as "invention II").

The invention relates to a tube-like supporting element for stapleregion. According to invention I, a part of the supporting element iscomposed of stretchable material to facilitate fitting of the supportingelement on an automatic stapling device because of strechabilitythereof, to prevent misregister because of increased fitting properties,and to facilitate and ensure cutting the supporting element togetherwith affected part because of tension of the supporting element.

According to invention II, the whole supporting element is made ofbiodegradable and bioabsorbable material to eliminate the need ofremoving non-biodegradable material after surgical operation and toprevent an accident letting foreign matter remain in the body due tofailure of removing the non-biological material.

"Tube-like" means that both ends of fabric-like object or each end offabric-like object and stretchable textile are integrated. A tube-likeshape includes cylinder, prism, plane, etc.

The biodegradable and bioabsorbable material of the invention employedas a whole or part of the supporting element for staple region ischaracterized in that the material does not remains in vivo for a longperiod of time as foreign matter.

The stretchable textile of the invention I is prepared by knitting orweaving rubber threads, polyurethane elastic threads, crimped threadsand bulky yarns, etc. in the weave thereof and has stretchability inlengthwise and crosswise directions. Although the weave is notspecifically limited to, a stretch warp knit (power net) produced byinterweaving polyurethane threads covered by nylon threads is preferablyexemplified in view of ease of integration by sewing, etc., andstability of shape.

Examples of the fabric-like object made of biodegradable andbioabsorbable material are knitted fabric, woven fabric, unwoven fabric,film, etc. made of polyglycolic acid, polylactic acid, copolymer ormixture of polylactic acid and polyglycolic acid, para-dioxanone,polycaprolactone, chitin and like matters already applied to biomedicalmaterials. Suitable material in view of flexibility, breathability,moderate nerve, thickness, blood absorbing properties, ease of passingof staples and degradability is unwoven fabric prepared by needlepunching knit fabric or woven textile made of polyglycolic acid asdisclosed in Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 5-18579 andJapanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-79586 by the applicant. Theunwoven fabric has poor stretchability.

In carrying out the invention I, integration of said fabric-like objectwith stretchable textile is conducted by piling both materials(preferably the same size for workability of integration) cut in adesired size and integrating the both ends (both selvages) by sewing,adhesion, etc. An example of particularly preferable means forintegration is plain stitch with sewing yarn in rough stitch tofacilitate separation of both after fixation by staples. The ends ofthread are preferably extended outside in a suitable length tofacilitate the separation mentioned above. The sewing yarn includessewing thread, suture, etc. The sewing yarn is composed of any materialincluding nylon, polyester, vinylon, cotton, silk and likenon-biodegradable polymer and above-mentioned biodegradable andbioabsorbable material. The sewing yarn is preferably made of the samebiodegradable and bioabsorbable material of the invention, since thesewing yarn may be put together with the supporting element and remainin vivo. Further, it is important to accomplish said object that innerdiameter of tube-like supporting element formed by said integration isthe same as or smaller than outer diameter of stapling device appliedto. Therefore, the size and shape of fabric-like object employed andsewing means for integration are preferably adapted to the object.

In carrying out the invention II, tube formation of fabric-like objectmade of biodegradable and bioabsorbable material is conducted by joiningboth ends of fabric-like object cut in a suitable size for adaptation ofregion inserted of staple of automatic stapling device using any method,such as rough stitch sewing, adhesion, etc. Temporary sewing andtemporary adhesion are, in particular, preferable to improve workabilityafter sewing process mentioned below. Tubular knitted textiles may beemployed as tube-like supporting element for staple region.

Examples of automatic stapling devices are AUTOSUTURE MULTIFIRE GIA 80,60 TYPE (trademark; product of UNITED STATE SURGICAL CO., LTD.),PROXIMATE LINEAR CUTTER 75, 55 TYPE (trade mark; product of ETHICON endoSURGERY CO., LTD.). For application to the automatic stapling devices,the supporting elements of the invention are simply fitted on staplebuilt-in type cartridge section and frame section provided with slot forstaple.

The fabric-like object may be composed of at least one material selectedfrom the group consisting of non-biodegradable and non-bioabsorbablepolymer such as nylon, polyester, vinylon, cotton, silk, etc.;biodegradable and bioabsorbable polymer such as polyglycolic acid,polylactic acid, copolymer or mixture of polylactic acid andpolyglycolic acid, para-dioxanone, polycaprolactone, chitin, etc. Thefabric-like object may be knitted fabric, woven fabric, unwoven fabric,film, etc.

EXAMPLE

The present invention will be described in detail with examples anddrawings.

Example 1

FIG. 1 discloses a supporting element for staple region of theinvention. The supporting element comprises unwoven fabric (3) made ofbiodegradable and bioabsorbable material, which is integrated withstretch warp knit (4) at both selvage by plain stitch with sutures (5),(6) as sewing yarn. The both ends of sutures (7), (7) are extendedoutside.

The unwoven fabric (3) is obtained by piling 4 sheets of cylindricalknitted webs having a weight per area of 45 g/m² which areneedle-punched lightly along wales direction in conditions that thewales direction of one fabric and the course direction of the adjacentsheet are aligned, followed by needle-punching the piled webs. Thecylindrical knitted webs are obtained by knitting threads of 12filaments and 33 deniers made of polyglycolic acid with circularknitting machine (18 gauge). The stretch warp knit (4) having stretchwarp knit weaves are prepared by interweaving polyurethane threads of280 deniers and nylon fiber of 24 filaments and 70 deniers in aproportion of polyurethane:nylon=15:85 with warp knitting machine.Example of suture is polyglycilic acid suture of 4-0 size.

Said unwoven fabric (3) and stretch warp knit (4) are cut in the samesize of 80×25 mm, piled, and then plain stitch with hand at a position 2mm inner from side edge in a sewing pitch of 10 mm to form the tube-likesupporting element for staple region (1) of the invention. Both ends ofsutures (7) are extended outside about 8 cm in long. The same procedureis repeated except that the fabrics cut are 80×20 mm in size to giveanother supporting element for staple region (2).

FIG. 2 discloses a conventionally employed double staple-type automaticstapling device (8) provided with staple built-in-type cartridge section(9) and frame section (10) provided with slot for staple. The cartridgesection and frame section are fitted with the supporting elements forstaple region (1), (2). In FIG. 2, (11) corresponds to a handle forclamping body tissue and (12) corresponds to a lever having combineduses of cutter and stapler. When the lever (12) is raised, body tissueclamped is stapled and then cut. FIG. 3 is an A--A sectional view inFIG. 2. In FIG. 3, stretch warp knit (4) is fitted in an extended state.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, during operation, an affected part of tissuein the body is sandwiched between unwoven fabrics (3), (3) of thesupporting element fitted on cartridge section (9) and frame section(10) by clamping the handle (11). The affected tissue and unwovenfabrics are fixed together by raising the lever (12). The affected part(13) and normal part (14) of the tissue are separated with cutter byfurther raising the lever (12). The end (7) of suture is pulled toseparate section remained in vivo (14) and section removed. The affectedpart (13) cut and stretchable fabric, i.e., stretch warp knit (4), areremoved outside the body.

FIG. 7 discloses another supporting element for staple region of theinvention. The supporting element comprises unwoven fabrics (3), (3')made of biodegradable and bioabsorbable material, which are integratedtogether at both selvage in middle section and one end section bystitching up with sewing yarns (5), (6). In the other end section,sewing yarns are diagonally placed from selvage to near center positionof the end to narrow an opening of the supporting element at the end.When the supporting element of FIG. 7 is applied to said doublestaple-type automatic stapling device (8) shown in FIG. 2, the narrowedend of supporting element is retained at the tip of cartridge section(9) without misregister and frame section (10) leading to inhibition ofturnup of the supporting element.

As shown in FIG. 8, a knot (20) may be formed so as to inhibitseparation of unwoven fabric (3) and stretch warp knit (4). The knotmaintaining plain stitch with sewing yarns (5), (6) makes it easier tocut unwoven fabric (3) on the direction as indicated by the arrow.

As shown in FIG. 9, notch (21) and/or perforation (22) may be formed onthe centerline of the unwoven fabric (3) to cut unwoven fabric (3) withcutter easily along notch (21) and/or perforation (22). Other means tofacilitate cutting of unwoven fabric (3) are temporary sewing oradhesion to form region with poor strength; and resin treatment or hotpress to form paper-like region.

As shown in FIG. 10, a protective cap (23) is put on frame section (10)fitted with the supporting element (2) so as to prevent turnup ormisregister of the supporting element (2) fitted, when frame section(10) is placed under the body tissue to be cut.

The protective cap (23) may be put on cartridge section (9), whencartridge section (9).

The protective cap (23) may be formed as tube-like body composed of knitor woven fabric, unwoven fabric, plastic film, etc. The shape ofprotective cap is preferably adjusted to the tip shape of automaticstapling device (8).

The same results as above were obtained by using sewing thread composedof polyester in place of suture as sewing yarn.

Example 2

FIG. 5 shows the supporting element for staple region of the inventionII. The supporting element (2') comprises above-mentioned unwoven fabric(3') made of polyglycolic acid. Both ends of unwoven fabric areintegrated together by plain stitch with suture (4'). As shown in FIG.6, the supporting element (2') may have unwoven fabric (17) made ofbioabsorbable polymer at a peripheral region fixed by staple. Theunwoven fabric (17) is attached to low-cost unwoven fabric (18) which isnot made of biodegradable and bioabsorbable material with adhesive (19).

The supporting element for staple region of the invention II may beemployed in the same manner as said supporting element of the inventionI shown in example 1.

The supporting element for staple region of the invention ischaracterized in that the supporting element prevents air leakage fromsection cut and rupture of soft tissues, that stretch of streachablematerial attached to fabric-like object facilitates fitting thesupporting element on a variety in size of automatic stapling devices oradjusting position of the supporting element and that tension of thestretchable material prevents misregister after fitted and facilitatescutting operation after fixation by staple. The supporting element isalso ecomonical because of small proportion of expensive biodegradableand bioabsorbable material. The unwoven fabric made of biodegradable andbioabsorbable material may be combined with low-strechable fabric whenstrechable sewing yarn is employed.

What is claimed is:
 1. A supporting element having a cylinder or prismshape for staple region comprising a fabric-like object made ofbiodegradable and bioabsorbable material integrated with stretchabletextile at both ends, wherein said biodegradable and bioabsorbablematerial is at least one selected from the group consisting ofpolyglycolic acid, polylactic acid, copolymer or mixture of polyglycolicacid and polylactic acid, para-dioxanone, polycaprolactone and chitin,and wherein said stretchable textile is stretch warp knit.
 2. Thesupporting element having a cylinder or prism shape for staple regionaccording to claim 1 wherein sewing yarn whose ends are extended outsideis placed at an integration section in plain stitch.
 3. A supportingelement having a cylinder or prism shape for staple region according toclaim 1 wherein said biodegradable and bioabsorbable material is unwovenfabric made of polyglycolic acid.
 4. A supporting element having acylinder or prism shape for staple region according to claim 1 whereinsaid fabric-like object made of biodegradable and bioabsorbable materialis integrated with fabric-like object made of non-biodegradable andnon-bioabsorbable material.
 5. A supporting element having a cylinder orprism shape for staple region according to claim 1 wherein saidfabric-like object made of biodegradable and bioabsorbable material isintegrated with unwoven fabric made of non-biodegradable andnon-bioabsorbable material.